U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors did not known that Rancho Feeding Corp., sold beef from cows with cancer, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
(U.S. Department of Agriculture)

A northern California slaughterhouse is under criminal investigation for selling meat from cows with cancer.A story in the San Francisco Chronicle that quotes anonymous sources says that Rancho Feeding
Corp. of Petaluma, Calif., got caught buying cows with eye cancer, chopping off their heads so inspectors couldn't detect the disease and illegally selling the
meat.

Although it's against federal law,
experts say eating the beef wasn't likely to make people sick. So far, no
one has reported becoming ill, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA said the company sold meat from "diseased and unsound animals" in a recall notice earlier this month. The slaughterhouse recalled nearly 9 million pounds of beef and veal, including meat from respected ranchers such Bill Niman, who raises grass-fed cattle without hormones and antibiotics.

And in another story related to slaughterhouse practices, a former USDA inspector questions the agency's plan to double line speeds in poultry plants. Alvin Sewell writes in Food Safety News that the USDA plan to allow 175 birds to be processed per minute instead of 70 birds could
increase inspector error, cause more contamination and lead to worker injuries.

When I came on board with FSIS, plants were allowed to “reprocess”
carcasses contaminated with feces and digestive tract contents, Sewell writes. Prior to
that, plants had to prevent contamination by fecal material, he says.
The reprocessing stepped up contamination. Reducing line speed reduced it, he writes.